


Potpourri

by GloriaGilbertPatch



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-10
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-02-20 14:00:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 11,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2431433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GloriaGilbertPatch/pseuds/GloriaGilbertPatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Collection of Tumblr prompts - in a mixture of tones and ratings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Caught in a Man-Trap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Purely based on the lovely observation of this post below [i.e. that Danny was wearing his coat while looking out the window at Mindy and Cliff], please write an AU where Cliff does not show up to see Mindy, and Danny finds some courage to go outside to be with her.
> 
> G-rated.

It was stupid. She was stupid. Cliff had a girlfriend, and yes, okay, they were fighting, but Heather was pretty and sweet – if occasionally a little insane, but Josh’ll do that to a woman – and he seemed like the type to give her a fair chance, which had to be more than a few weeks.

Cliff didn’t want her. He flirted, but that was just flirting, a fun way to pass the time and make him feel good about himself. It didn’t mean anything. He didn’t want her.

Well, maybe he _had_ wanted her once, that night when Morgan and Peter took over her cell phone. He’d certainly seemed into her, if his texts were anything to be believed. And she could actually have been the one texting him, if she hadn’t been stuck at Danny’s.

Danny.

Danny didn’t want her either, and that was maybe worse. Cliff was a cute, funny, interesting guy, but at the end of the day he was still just a guy. He’d seen her angry, but he’d never seen her cry. He’d seen her a little tired and stressed, but he’d never seen her put away a whole pizza. He’d only seen her in her work clothes, for crying out loud. He didn’t know her like Danny did. His rejection didn’t hurt the same.

Danny.

He liked her. They were friends. From time to time he even acted as if he loved her. And he was attracted to her. (That, he tried to hide, but she wasn’t an idiot. She’d seen him check her out, subtly, when he thought she wouldn’t notice.) And yet he still didn’t want her – this man who knew her so well, who comforted her when she was sad, who learned the choreography to a twelve-year-old pop music video for her, who wanted her body at least a little – he didn’t want to be with her. He’d spotted something broken in her, something wrong with her, something that meant that they could be close friends of the same age and social class who were single and attracted to each other and yet he didn’t want to be with her, didn’t even want to try.

Because of course she wanted him. She’d been attracted to him right from the start – he was so handsome and smart and confident and so different, in a good way, an interesting way, from all the boys she’d dated in the past. (Because _they_ had been boys. Danny was a man.) But he’d been so much more abrasive in those days, so much harsher and so much less kind and she’d written him off, especially once she’d started dating Tom and wrapped herself up in the Nora Ephron movie her life was supposed to be.

He’d softened, though, in the almost two years since Tom had broken her heart, and now Danny was one of her best friends. One of her best friends who was a little crunchy on the outside but sweet and gooey on the inside, who could be incredibly perceptive when he cared enough to be and who put so much effort into the things that mattered to him, even when no one else cared. Not even mentioning how unbearably hot he was, because he’d been that before so she couldn’t really count it.

And she wanted him, wanted him so badly it took her breath away. Flirting with Cliff was fun and flattering and a bit of a turn-on, but being near Danny made her ache with incompletion and there was no comparison.

The pigeon didn’t seem to get where she was coming from, but just as Mindy was about to give up she heard a man’s voice calling out.

“Hey.”

It was Danny, now wearing his jacket and climbing out to see her.

“Hey, Danny,” she said softly. “Look, you don’t need to come out, it’s cold, I’m going back in soon.”

“I just wanted to get some air,” he replied, a bit shyly, looking down at his feet and then up into her eyes with sincerity that took her breath away.

“Oh. Oh, okay. Um, I guess it is a nice night.”

“Yeah.”

She could feel her body buzzing with anticipation as he walked closer to her and it was all she could do to keep the yearning out of her eyes. The gleam in his made her think she hadn’t been entirely successful.

“So your man trap failed,” he observed when he reached her. She nodded briefly.

“I did not get Cliff to kiss me,” she agreed before pausing to consider her next words and then finally throwing it all to hell and pressing on. “But I wouldn’t say the man trap was a _complete_ failure.”

“What do you mean?”

“Danny. Are you going to kiss me?” He looked shy again and suddenly Mindy was terrified she’d said the wrong thing.

“Did you want me to?”

“Since the day I met you. More or less,” she hedged quickly, trying to pretend she hadn’t just completely laid herself bare before him. “I like you, Danny.”

“I feel the same way,” he said to his feet, and then he reached out and pulled her to him and then they were kissing and his lips felt exactly as she’d imagined and completely new and surprising at the same time. She pulled her body flush with his, relishing the feel on the firm muscles of his shoulders under her hands and the slight indent of his navel against her belly.

“See, the man trap didn’t fail after all,” she said with a nervous giggle as they pulled back from a surprisingly good first kiss.

“I’m not trapped, Mindy,” was all he said, but it was enough. He did want her. It was everything.


	2. All the Good Things, All the Happy Things, and Definitely All the Orgasms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by jsmapdi's ability to egg me on and a really nice glass of wine. AKA Mindy and Danny and blow jobs. Rated E.

“You’re okay.”

Mindy heard the words echoing in her ears long after Danny had accepted his lot in life and endeavored, awkwardly, to teach Peter just how one might give a woman an orgasm. “You’re okay.” “You’re okay.”

No. No, unacceptable. She’d rhapsodized to the entire office about how Danny was such a cunning linguist, and this – _this_ – was the thanks she got? Absolutely not! No boyfriend of hers had ever considered her fellatio skills to be subpar, and she certainly wasn’t going to start with the boyfriend she could already tell was going to mean the most of all of them. She might have been lackluster so far, but she wasn’t going to stand for this and she didn’t have to.

“Hey, Peter!” she called as he walked out of Danny’s office and past hers.

“What up?” he asked casually, dropping a notepad and pencil on her desk as he strolled in. Mindy glanced at them and immediately wished she hadn’t. Gross, Peter – try to appreciate one of the perks of being a gynecologist and just grab a _preprinted_ diagram of the vulva when you need one.

“Shut the door.” He frowned, but shrugged and shoved it closed, settling down in the seat in front of her desk.

“Peter, I get the feeling you’re a guy who has been on the receiving end of a lot of…mouth-stuff, am I right?”

“You know it.”

“Well, Danny just told me I’m only okay at it, and – ” 

“He _what_?”

“Shit, I was probably not supposed to tell you that. Privacy, or something. But yes, Peter, for the first time ever I am not earning ‘A’s in oral, and I need you to help me out.”

“That’s really weird, Mindy.” 

“Yeah, well, fine, think of it as paying Danny back for the half hour he just spent teaching you something you should have learned in college.” Peter shrugged. 

“Okay, that’s fair. Let’s talk.”

**

“Look, Mindy, you don’t have anything to prove. I really enjoy sleeping with you even if that’s not your thing. You’re great at other things. It’s not a dealbreaker.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay, except it totally is my thing. On the bed, Castellano.” Danny sat obediently at the edge of the bed and she hurriedly knelt at his feet, aggressively pulling at his pants and socks.

“Stop, stop, Mindy, this isn’t – ” He sighed. “I don’t want you to do this because you think you have to be good at it. And don’t tell me that isn’t why you’re doing it.”

“It’s not! Well…it’s not the only reason.”

“Sure feels that way.”

“Look, Danny, it’s just that…I love you. I want you to be happy. I want to _make_ you happy. And I wanna make you feel good. Why is that so hard for you to accept?” He sighed.

“Well, when you put it that way I do kinda sound like an idiot, don’t I?”

“You do, but I forgive you. Now come on. Let me suck your cock.” She lowered her head to his groin and slowly ran her tongue around the tip of him, enjoying the way he grew harder right in front of her eyes. She licked her way down the underside, right to the base and then gently over his balls, and he closed his eyes. She smiled a little to herself and licked down a little farther, pressing the tip of her tongue against his perineum and relishing the way he jerked as she did.

“Shit, Mindy, that’s good,” he breathed. She did some excited backflips in her head and then drew away enough to push his dick between her lips and bring him into her mouth with a quick, hard suck. Danny actually cried out this time and she smiled up at him as she bobbed her head, taking more of him in each time.

“Fuck, yeah, just like – _oh_ – yeah, that’s good – so good…” He deteriorated into helpless groans and nonsense words until Mindy pulled out the _pièce de résistance_ and suddenly without warning took him all the way into her mouth, her tongue peeking out to run along the edge of his balls again. 

“Oh, _fuck_ , yes, don’t stop, just like that, yes…please, Mindy,” he moaned, and she wanted to hear it forever, the sound of this man whom she loved so much losing himself to pleasure she’d given him. She bobbed her head again, faster and faster as she held him in place with a hand against his thigh. Danny’s breathing was shallow and harsh in the empty room, and when Mindy looked up at him all she could think was that there was nothing more beautiful in the world than his face at that moment.

“Min – please – I’m gonna come…unngh can I please?…please, Min, I’m gonna come, I’m gonna come…”

She didn’t stop to say anything but sucked, hard, as she pushed him all the way in and with a long, keening moan he came down her throat.

She let him linger for a few long moments after he’d collapsed on the bed, breathing hard and heart pounding, before she pulled away and swallowed a couple of times until her mouth felt normal again. Fighting the urge to ask immediately for a critique of her performance, she flopped down on the bed next to him.

“I love you, Danny,” she said softly, instead, and he rolled over to kiss her, his lips landing lazily at the corner of her mouth.

“I love you, too, Mindy,” he murmured in return, curling up beside her like a contented kitten. “Mmm. And I was wrong before. That was the best. Christ. The _best_.” He grinned a little. “You win. You happy now?” Mindy laughed and leaned in to his embrace.

“Well, yeah. I want to be your best, babe, but you know it’s not _just_ about my pride. I want you to be having the best you’ve ever had because I want that for you – all the good things, all the happy things, and definitely all the orgasms.” He nuzzled his face against her neck, but not before she caught a glimpse of his expression, and it nearly took her breath away.

“Thanks, Min,” he said softly, and she could hear his heart in his voice so well that it didn’t matter that he couldn’t show her his face.


	3. Danny and Mindy and the Prenup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny+Mindy+Cliff+Prenup for diaphenia - part one of an arc. Due to 3x03 revelations, now somewhat AU. Rated T for cursing?

“A prenup, Mindy? You really think we should get a prenup?”

“Look, obviously we have very different spending habits, in that I occasionally spend my money and you…okay, so I don’t know what you actually _do_ with your money, but I don’t want to get in the way of that, and so maybe we should look into a prenup.” She sighed at the way Danny’s smile was starting to look forced.

“It’s not that I think we’re going to get divorced. I fully intend to be with you until one of us dies. But relationships end. Marriages end sometimes, Danny. I dated a divorce lawyer for three months, and – ”

“Can you not bring up your ex-boyfriend while we’re in the middle of talking about the hypothetical end of our marriage?”

“Let me _finish_. Do you know how much _money_ Cliff spent in the three months that we dated? And he _just_ does divorces. Guys like Cliff lead lavish lifestyles making money off rich doctors’ broken hearts. I don’t want that!”

“Okay, maybe you’re right,” he agreed uncomfortably. “I dunno. Christina and I didn’t have a prenup, but our divorce wasn’t that expensive.”

“You absolutely cannot compare your divorce from Christina to your divorce from me. I am at least five million times more vindictive than she is. You know this about me.” She paused, and then added quietly, “And I would never cheat on you, I hope you know that about me, too.”

“I do,” he said quietly, but he still looked kind of sad and vulnerable so Mindy leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on the mouth.

“So come on. Let’s just have Cliff draft us a prenup that, let’s face it, we’re never gonna have to use.”

“Cliff? You think that’s a good idea?”

“Are you kidding, Danny? He did all kinds of legal stuff for us, for free, that wasn’t even his thing. This time we’re paying him to do the kind of law he actually does. Easy-squeezy.”

***

“Let me get this straight. My ex-girlfriend, who cheated on me, is now marrying the man she cheated on me _with_ , and they want to hire _me_ to write the prenup? My respect for Columbia med just plummeted.”

“Cliff, I know this is hard for you, because you love me and I broke your heart – ”

“…more like you caused a disastrous fire while cheating on me at my grandmother’s funeral…”

“ – but, ultimately, I think you’re a good man, and you’ll do this for us. If only to make it easier for Danny to screw me over in our divorce.”

“Gotta say, not feeling crazy about Danny, either, and frankly I don’t think I would mind watching the two of you in an expensive, extended, acrimonious divorce.” He cleared his throat and pulled two cards from his desk, handing one to Danny and one to Mindy. “And by that point I’ll probably be ready to work for one of you two, so hang on to these. In the meantime, though, please get the fuck out of my office.”


	4. Mindy and Peter and the Prenup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More serious than the previous chapter, also somewhat AU after the start of season 3, G-rated.

“No, Mindy. You should sign this prenup because it’s good for _you_.”

“What are you talking about? I’m a woman. I’m marrying a doctor. Women who marry doctors hate prenups.”

“Oh, don’t give me that. You and Danny make basically the same amount, only he spends his money on his family and you spend yours on clothes.”

“When you put it like that I sound so shallow.”

“You are. But that’s not what I mean.” Peter sighed and swung his feet up onto his desk. “Lauren did her residency up in Boston with your dad. He’s a rich and important neurologist and neurosurgeon. And your mom is an actuary. I know you probably don’t wanna think about it, but you’re gonna inherit _bank_. Danny’s mom lives on Social Security and the money he sends her every month. Danny’s always supported his family; you’ve never had to.” 

“I guess that’s true,” Mindy said uncomfortably. She didn’t like to think about the discrepancy between her background and Danny’s any more than she had to; it always made her feel bad about herself and she knew that it shouldn’t. Her parents were hardworking immigrants who’d sacrificed a lot so that their kids could succeed, and it wasn’t as if she didn’t try to pay it forward.

“Plus I’d put money on your financial choices paying out better than his.”

“What? Danny is way more responsible than I am.”

“Come on, the guy buys Suze Orman books. I’m sure he does fine, but he’s a doctor, not a finance bro. I will give you five grand right now if you _don’t_ have a personal financial adviser managing your investments.” She bit her lip.

“I own a timeshare in Cabo San Lucas that I have literally never used.”

“Yeah, and you also own that outfit you’re wearing now. The fact that you make some terrible purchases doesn’t mean you don’t have millions in mutual funds. Look, Mindy, don’t sell yourself short. If you and Danny ever split up, you’re the one benefitting from a prenup.”

“Maybe you’re right,” she replied uncomfortably. It was bad enough thinking that she and Danny wouldn’t last forever, but the idea of their breaking up and his hurting financially because of it was suddenly sharply painful.

“You know I’m right.”

“Yeah, and I hate it,” she snapped, looking up at Peter with pain in her eyes. “I hate the fact that Danny grew up without being able to count on everything I completely took for granted. I hate it so much. He can count on me. I’m _not_ getting a prenup.”


	5. Like We're In High School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For grelca, who made a GIF. Tag to 3x02, M-rated.

“Oh my God.” Danny breathed in sharply as Mindy’s hand brushed over his lap.

“What?”

“You’re _still_ hard? After that… _thing_ …with your mother? What is wrong with you?!”

“Nothing’s wrong with me! It doesn’t just…turn off because my mother yelled at me.” He smiled crookedly. “If it did I’d never get any.” And with that Mindy’s heart broke a little, and she leaned in to kiss him.

“You can always get some if I’m around,” she assured him as her lips trailed over his jaw and paused to suck on his neck before returning her attention to his ear.

“I…ah…shit, Mindy, don’t do that, you can’t do that or I’m gonna embarrass myself. Fuck.”

“It’s your high school bedroom, Danny. It’s okay to act like you’re in high school.” She snaked her hand back into his lap to punctuate her point.

“Oh…fuck, that feels…wait, what? What do you mean?”

“I _mean_ I’m not going all the way with you, not here. The bed would make way too much noise and don’t even mention the floor because rug burn is a serious thing.” Mindy rubbed him gently and inhaled sharply at the way his eyes fluttered closed.

“But I do want to get you off.” She pulled his earlobe into her mouth, scraping her teeth against the sensitive skin there, and his head fell back against her shoulder. “Come on, Danny.”

“Fuck,” he gasped, and Mindy smiled lasciviously into his neck. She pressed her hand against his dick, curling her fingers around him and pulsing gently.

“Mmm, yeah, I fucking love your cock, you know that, right? I dream about it…and daydream about it…and I can’t get through the day without touching it, Danny, I just can’t.” Her tongue darted out, running along the ridge and laving the tragus before she closed her lips around his earlobe and sucked, hard. He whimpered helplessly as she felt him come under her hand.

“Just like high school?” she murmured with a bit of a giggle.

“God. Better,” he sighed, turning to kiss her full on the lips. “Mmm…what about you? What did you like in high school?” He looked so fucking sexy leaning over her, making her arch her back against the soft mattress beneath her, that she really wanted to offer up her dirtiest adult daydream, but she couldn’t lie.

“Uhhh chemistry. And Latin. And never having a boyfriend,” she confessed, sliding her hands along his waist under his shirt and pulling him flush against her. “You’re right, though. This is totally better.”


	6. First Day of School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this prompt: mindy and danny au meeting as single parents on their kids' first day of school. G-rated, it's kindergarten.

_You have this vision for how your life is going to turn out, and then you find yourself a single mother with a demanding job and it’s not nearly as romantic as you thought it was going to be._

“Are you…talking to yourself?” Mindy’s head whipped around at the man’s voice, clearly directed at her.

“Well, I’m clearly not talking to you,” she said, the sarcasm fading as she got a look at the man who had spoken. God damn it, he was handsome.

“Clearly,” he repeated with a smirk. She rolled her eyes and stuck out her hand.

“Mindy Lahiri,” she said pleasantly. “And this is my daughter, Piper McDougall.” Piper didn’t even turn at the sound of her name, so immersed was she in showing another kid the entire contents of her backpack.

“Daniel Castellano,” the man answered stiffly, but he shook her hand. “And Catherine Porter-Castellano.” He turned to the startlingly pretty little girl standing next to him and nudged her towards Mindy. “Say hi to Piper and Ms. Lahiri, Katie.” The girl put out her hand and Mindy’s heart melted as she crouched down to shake it.

“It’s nice to meet you, Catherine,” she said sweetly. “Is it okay to call you Katie or is that just something your daddy does?”

“You c’n call me Katie,” the girl replied, a little shyly. “It’s my first day of school.”

“I know, and that’s so exciting,” Mindy gushed. “It’s Piper’s first day, too.” She ushered her daughter forward to meet the well-mannered little girl with the dreamboat dad.

“Piper, this is Katie. Katie, this is my daughter, Piper.” The two girls considered each other and Mindy turned her attention back to Dreamboat Dad.

“I can’t believe she’s starting school already. Time flies, right?” Daniel nodded, looking wistfully at his daughter.

“It seems like just yesterday Christina and I were freaking out over…actually, we freaked out over everything. I’m surprised Katie’s made it this far.” Mindy smiled and asked the obvious question.

“Christina is your wife?”

“Ex-wife, now,” he clarified, and her heart jumped.

“Hey, join the club,” she said cheerfully. “Tom – Piper’s dad – and I split up two years ago. It sucks, but life goes on, right?”

“Right,” he replied faintly.

“So, did you take the whole day off for this?” asked Mindy, eager to keep the conversation going. “I know I’m going to need at least four hours to cry about my baby before I’m ready to see any patients.” Daniel smiled slightly and nodded. 

“It’s only morning kindergarten,” he pointed out. “I’m taking Katie to lunch afterward, so it just makes sense not to go into work.”

“What do you do?” she persisted.

“I’m an OB/GYN,” he answered, and her face lit up. 

“No kidding, me too! Where do you practice?”

“Shulman. You?”

“Fishbein. And no way. I worked under Marc during residency. What a coincidence!”

“What a coincidence.” Ugh, his eyes. Seriously, this Daniel guy was all kinds of hot.

The bell rang and the teachers began to usher all the kids into the school. Mindy grabbed Piper in a fierce hug.

“Have a good day, baby. Mommy loves you.” 

“I love you, Mommy!” She wiped away a tear as her little girl walked away and then turned to sexy Doctor Dreamboat Dad.

“So, Daniel, I’m not doing anything, and neither are you – want to grab coffee and cry about our aging daughters together?” He looked a little surprised at her forwardness, but he nodded.

“Sure. And, hey, call me Danny.”


	7. You Only Want What You Can't Have

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Hmmmm… Well I know no whipped cream for you. Maybe explore the tied up thing a lil more?
> 
> Rated T…T+?

“I’m sorry, again, about last night.”

“That really hurt, Mindy. It’s one thing to bite my tongue playfully, but I need you not to try to _eat_ it.”

“I know. Hey, at least we learned that whipped cream in the bedroom is not a good kink for us. Better your tongue than your penis, right?” He winced.

“Please don’t put the idea in my head.”

“Sorry. Look, Danny – I actually _was_ into the bondage thing.”

“You were?” His voice cracked a little, and Mindy knew she had him.

“Yeah. I’ve never been with a guy who dominated me before. It was kinda hot. And maybe…I’d kinda like to try again.”

“You would?” She nodded.

“I would. Except this time maybe I should just get naked first, because getting that nightgown off would have been a bitch if you hadn’t untied my arms. I don’t think we really thought it through.”

“Okay, good point.” He took in a deep breath. “So…when you wanna do this?” Mindy smirked and pressed her hand against the fly of his jeans, finding exactly what she expected she would.

“Please, Danny. I know better than to bring up sex when I don’t mean right now.” She grinned. “At least when I’m not trying to torture you.” Danny swallowed loudly and pulled her in for a kiss, grinding slightly against the hand that remained between them. She sucked hard on his lip at that and he moaned a little in his throat. 

“Mmm,” she said as she pulled away, “let me go get the stuff.” There wasn’t really a lot of stuff to get (just two scarves), but she had to stop kissing him if she wanted to last long enough to get tied up because at this rate she was likely just to rip his clothes off and have her way with him, which was the opposite of the plan.

A few minutes later she was tied down to Danny’s bed, this time wearing nothing but a skimpy lace thong that Danny, unsurprisingly, seemed really into. He loomed over her and, God, he was so hot; all she wanted was to run her hands up and down his bare back…and like everything else, she wanted it all the more knowing that she couldn’t have it. She mused for a moment on how her mother really had been right about that until Danny’s lips closed around her nipple and she couldn’t think about anyone else at all.

“God, Danny, that feels so good,” she moaned, arching her back to encourage him. He pulled away long enough to grin at her and then he was at it again and she was writhing beneath him and begging him not to stop.


	8. Mindy, Will You Marry Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For tricera-hops, who made no specifications but asked for a ficlet. This is what I gave her, rated G.

_Mindy, will you marry me?_

It shouldn’t be so hard. Hell, change the name and he’s played the scene before. Christina had liked grand gestures, too, once.

But it _is_ hard, surprisingly hard, and so he makes it through not one, not two, but three lavish, expensive dates without asking her. He can tell he’s leaving her hanging, too, letting her down, by the way she lingers so sweetly and so quietly, staging a perfect moment, before they go home.

As he lies in bed, postcoital, with her in his arms, her face snuggled against his chest, he can’t help feeling that he is less than a man. He knows he loves her. He knows that this - holding her, feeling her heart beat and hearing her breathe - that it’s all he wants for the rest of his life. And he knows that she will say yes when he asks. He’s opened his mouth to ask her so many times, and then chickened out. She loves him and she will wait for him, but it’s ridiculous how much he’s asking her to. And she does have other options if she gets tired of waiting.

He can’t lose this feeling, the feeling of her hands on his skin and her breath on his neck, the feeling that there is a woman whom he loves, wholly, and in this moment, peacefully - a woman who is holding him and curled up against him and loves him even though she knows everything about him that is unloveable.

Her breathing is starting to even out and he is suddenly flooded with the desire not to wait, so he takes a deep breath and murmurs into her hair.

"Min?"

"Yeah?" she answers, sleepily, without bothering to look up at him.

"I love you."

"Love you, too, babe." She burrows deeper into his chest, which clenches on the inside as he struggles to say the words.

"Min?"

"Yeah?"

"D’you wanna marry me?" She pulls away from him suddenly and even though he knows it is so that she can look at him, so that she can speak to him, his body feels the loss of hers.

"I do want to marry you. Are you asking?" she asks, her eyebrows raised almost in disbelief.

"I am," he answers, relieved and almost-confident. "Mindy Lahiri, will you be my wife?" Her face breaks into the biggest smile he’s seen her wear yet, and she nods furiously.


	9. Mindy's Pink Handgun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For a five-sentence fic meme, prompt (first line) by @diaphenia. G-rated.

Mindy picked up the handgun, which was pink, obviously.

"This is kind of a weird gift, Rishi," she said suspiciously, eyeing her brother. "I mean, it’s gorgeous and I love it, but you know I don’t have a great track record with firearms."

"Hey, you looked out for me when I visited your ‘hood - "

" - I’m a _Manhattan doctor_ \- “

"I look out for you in mine."

"Two Indian siblings studying medicine at Stanford University _does_ sound pretty dangerous,” she teased, but she stopped at the earnest look in her baby brother’s eyes.

"Look Mindy, you’re my sister, and I love you, and I want you to be safe," he told her stubbornly, and twenty-three hadn’t looked so much like a grown man in about ten years.


	10. Danny the Bathroom Hog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five sentence fic, prompt from @alittlenutjob. Also pretty tame.

"Danny, I swear to _God_ you’ve been in the bathroom for like 40 minutes now and if you’ve gone full Elvis on me I will hunt you through the 77 levels of hell - or _whatever_ Catholics are into - just so I can have my vengeance!”

"Jeez, Min, is this seriously coming from a woman who once spent three hours in the bathroom followed by _one_ hour at the cocktail party? It’s barely been half an hour and I swear I’m not dead.”

"I’m going to need to verify that for myself, thankyouverymuch." She barged into the room without further warning and her mouth dropped open at the sight of Danny, now looking slightly sheepish, reclining in a bubble bath.

"What can I say; you hooked me on ‘em," he offered with an even more sheepish grin, and the sweet but lascivious smile she gave in return was something else she’d hooked him on.


	11. Could I Hold You Close Beside Me; Could I Hold You For All Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SOTU ficathon prompt from @tricerahops: Mindy and Danny and breakup sex (or sexy times, since they hadn't actually had sex), post-Be Cool. This is pretty mature.

“Why did you kiss me, Danny, why did you even start this?” Mindy could feel her voice breaking and she didn’t even care, she didn’t fucking care. He didn’t get to walk away from her like this, not with a bullshit excuse like, “I want to save the friendship.” They ruined the friendship, if not the moment he kissed her on the plane then the moment he kissed her on her couch.

“I’m sorry,” he croaked, finally, looking at her like he really did love her, like he really did want her, and damn it, she knew he did.

She _knew_ he did.

She swallowed her pride – _what_ pride, after all, she’d already begged him – and ran out after him, grabbing him by the arm and leading him back into her apartment before he quite realized she’d gotten up. Her other hand wound around his waist and her mouth was on his neck.

“Danny,” she whispered into his skin, lips brushing over his pulse. “Danny, don’t leave like this, you can’t leave like this…you promised. You _promised_.”

“What?” he asked hoarsely, but he didn’t pull away. “Min…what are you talking about?”

“You said you’d make it up to me,” she reminded him. “This whole, stupid party.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, his brow furrowed – but he still didn’t pull away. “That’s why I wore the tie.”

“You don’t make up a dumb mistake to your girlfriend with a tie, you dweeb.” Her voice was barely more than a breath, but the way Danny was looking at her proved he was catching every word. “Especially not if you’re going to break up with her afterward.” She moved her lips along his neck to punctuate her words, pausing briefly to suck on his earlobe before sliding down over his jaw.

“Mindy…we broke up,” he murmured, swallowing hard when he felt her tug his shirt from his pants and then slide her soft hands against the skin of his back.

“You did break up with me,” she said with a short nod as she tried not to cry. “But not because I cheated, or – please, Danny, please don’t go yet.” She forced a laugh but couldn’t quite find the humor. “Do you have any idea how much money I spent on my underwear?”

“Mindy,” he said again, and his voice was helpless but there was more than a little desire in his eyes. “I’m not sure this is a good idea.”

“Come on,” she urged, dropping her hand lower to glide over his butt. “If I can’t have you anymore, can’t I at least have you once?” As she finished speaking, she finally leaned in to kiss him on the mouth, and instantly his lips parted against hers, eager now despite the reticence, the restraint he’d tried to show earlier. Suddenly his arms were pulling her tightly to him and his tongue was pushing its way into her mouth, and if she could just make this kiss last forever she thought it would count as everything she’d ever wanted.

She pushed his jacket off his shoulders and shrugged her sweater onto the floor as they made their way over to her bed. Something in the back of her mind was screaming that it wasn’t supposed to be this way, but in this moment, with this man, she was willing to take whatever she could get. They landed on the bed with a thud and he pulled back a second, the way he stroked her hair a painful moment of déjà vu that made tears pool dangerously in her eyes.

“You looked so beautiful tonight,” Danny murmured, his eyes moving down over her body but fastening on her face. “You’re so beautiful.” Mindy blinked, trying again not to cry as she focused hard on opening his pants.

“Take these off,” she whispered, and he wriggled out of them and went to work on his shirt and tie while she pulled her dress over her head, and then they were down to their underwear and his body was hovering above hers and it was so close and so far from exactly what she wanted. She closed her eyes briefly, trying to get her bearings, before she remembered that this was the first time, the last time, the only time she would get to be with Danny like this and she didn’t want to miss a moment. So she wound her legs around his waist and pulled him down for a kiss, moaning as the motion rubbed his erection against her. He kept it up as they kissed, slowly grinding his hips into hers in a slow, perfect rhythm that made her want to cry in a whole new way, and she squirmed beneath him, wanting more but not wanting him to stop because she was already embarrassingly close.

He seemed to sense her frustration, though, and, breathing hard, pulled away enough to look at her again, his eyes flicking from her face to her bra to her panties and back to her face again.

“Can I?” he asked, fingering the strap of the black lace bra Mindy ironically had to admit she’d worn specifically for the first-time sex she’d been planning for tonight. She nodded, and he carefully popped the clasp, and then in a moment his hands and mouth were on her, fingers spread wide on her waist as his lips closed over her nipple. God, she was going to miss this when tonight was over, and a part of her really wanted to draw it out longer and longer until he conceded and agreed to stay…but she was throbbing between her legs and he was insistent against her thigh and she knew it didn’t work like that, anyway.

“Danny,” she gasped, tapping his shoulder a little until he brought his mouth away from her breast. He looked at her, quite seriously, as she fumbled with the waistband of his boxers, pushing them over his hips and eagerly reaching for his cock. He closed his eyes when her fingers closed around him and moaned at the slight tug she offered.

“I want you inside me,” she told him, barely above a whisper, and he swallowed and nodded, carefully hooking his thumbs under the edges of her panties and pulling them down. His eyes stayed latched on hers as they kicked away the last of their clothing and he entered her, slowly and deliberately.

“Fuck,” she moaned as he filled her, and he shuddered in response as he carefully found a rhythm. It was slow and steady and if this night had gone like she’d planned and they’d had many more nights left in their future she never would have stood for it, would’ve urged him faster and harder because she just couldn’t take the wanting anymore. But if this was going to be the only time then slow was fine, slow was good, slow was exactly what she needed. And then he slipped a hand between their bodies and rubbed his thumb against her clit and she couldn’t think anymore, she could only feel – feel how perfect it was to have him inside her, how sorry he was to have hurt her, how much he loved her. How much she loved him.

She came powerfully not long after, the heat spreading throughout her body as she clung to him – to Danny, her best friend, the man she loved more than reason – and once she was done he thrust hard and frantically a few more times and groaned loudly before sinking into her, his breath coming in harsh pants against her neck, and she wrapped her arms tightly around him as if that would keep him from going.


	12. You're Bad at This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SOTU ficathon prompt from @alittlenutjob: How far did the scene in Be Cool where Mindy "accidentally gave a patient the wrong medication" actually go once Danny closed the door? Mature.

“Oh my God, Danny, what the hell was that?”

“What? It definitely warrants a private conversation,” he argued, his face a little flushed. Mindy rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, and follow-up questions. Your excuses can’t be too interesting.” She sighed. “I should’ve known; you’ve always been a terrible actor.”

“I just don’t like to lie!” Danny offered defensively, but his ears reddened a little. Mindy putting a patient in a coma was definitely a pretty big stretch. Luckily she didn’t seem too angry when she rolled her eyes again.

“Well, this is a doozy. I should totally pay you back by leaving the office and telling everyone that you mixed me up with Neha Patel and jeez, Danny, racist much? There’s more than one Indian female gynecologist at St. Brendan’s.” Danny winced.

“Come on, Mindy, I’m horny for your kisses,” he wheedled, snaking his arm around her waist and bending to kiss her, but she turned her face away and shook her head.

“Nope, not in the mood. My medical skills and professional integrity have just been insulted too badly for kisses.” He pushed his luck and pressed his lips against her clavicle anyway.

“Please, Min?” he mumbled into her skin. “You know I think you’re an amazing doctor. I just also want you so bad it interferes with my ability to think up good excuses.” She snorted at that and tilted her head back a little so that he could kiss farther up her neck.

“Keep going, Castellano, you’re not out of the doghouse yet.”

“Mmm, I’ve been thinking about you all morning. Ever since you got out of my bed I’ve wanted you back in it.”

“And you know I’ve never accidentally put a patient under?”

“Babe, I’ve seen you do emergency c-sections so gorgeous there’s barely a scar. I’d send my own mother to you if she needed a hysterectomy.”

“Really?” Mindy beamed. “You’d let me meet your mother? Okay, you can kiss me now.” She tilted her head back towards him and let his mouth land hotly on hers.

“Mmm, you _have_ been thinking about me, haven’t you,” she mumbled into his mouth as he pulled her flush against his body. His hands wandered over her butt and gripped her tighter in response.

“Yeah,” he breathed, grinding himself ever so slightly into her.

“You do know I’m _not_ having sex with you in this office, and that’s non-negotiable, right?” Danny groaned a little in anticipated frustration, but in the meantime, she wasn’t telling him to stop and she certainly wasn’t stopping herself.

Mindy had to admit that there was a secret, shameful part of herself that kind of enjoyed being a bit of a tease, especially since it still took her by surprise that _she_ could tease _Danny_ , Mr. Every-Woman-in-New-York-Wants-Me himself. It was getting to be a bit much, though, and sleeping sexlessly next to him was starting to drive her crazy. Still, if she’d learned nothing else from her liaison with Jeremy, it was that sex in the office was grossly overrated compared to sex in an actual bed. So they could wait a little longer, and she was going to stick to that even as Danny worked her mouth more expertly than she’d ever thought possible, even as the heat radiating off his hard cock threatened to overwhelm her with desire.

“Fuck, Min,” he moaned, his gentle grinding giving way to thrusts as one hand slid under the bright skirt of her dress and over the softness of her thigh until his strong fingers were dancing over the damp crotch of her panties and she couldn’t help the whimper that slipped out.

“Yeah, Danny, that feels good,” she gasped as he carefully traced patterns over her clit, even as he continued kissing her and humping her thigh and, really, he was pretty damned coordinated. She arched against his hand and decided she _definitely_ should’ve dated a dancer before.

“You like it, baby?” he groaned, his lips moving over her jaw so that they both could breathe. She nodded, trying futilely to steady her breathing as she moved her hips in time with his fingers, considering with the last still curious part of her brain that the friction from her panties felt good, too.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t stop, just like that,” she managed, panting, and a couple seconds later she was biting her lip hard and opening her eyes as wide as she could as he made her see stars. His other hand was firm at her waist, keeping her upright when her knees threatened to buckle under her, and _oh yeah_ they were definitely doing it as soon as they got a chance. In the meantime, though, it was probably only fair that she –

“Dr. L!” Morgan’s voice came barreling through Danny’s closed door, startling her hands away from his crotch.

“What is it, Morgan?” she called back as Danny gritted his teeth. “Dr. C and I are kind of in the middle of something.”

“Dr. L, you don’t have to worry about it, I checked the hospital records and it was Dr. Patel who put that woman in a coma, but it wasn’t the wrong medication, it was just a subarachnoid injection during her regular epidural. You don’t have to worry about it. You can come out now. Dr. L? You didn’t do anything wrong. You can come out now. Dr. L?”

Mindy sighed and threw Danny a dirty look, and then his crotch a dirtier one.

“You know what, I think you deserve this,” she said abruptly, fixing her skirt and smoothing down her hair. At the crestfallen look on his face, though, she couldn’t help adding mischievously, “but if you play your cards right, I think you’ll be getting lucky tonight.”


	13. Well, Maybe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SOTU ficathon prompt from @evmlove: Brooke comes back to visit, finds out how serious Danny and Mindy are (for example, married and pregnant) and in her desperation hooks up with Morgan. Teen-rated, probably.

It wasn’t that she loved him. It wasn’t even that she really liked him. Sure, he was a handsome doctor who could be charming when he felt like it and was generous in bed. That was pretty great. But Brooke knew perfectly well that she was gorgeous and smart and more than capable of finding a great catch on her own.

It was more the insult of being wrong. Danny Castellano had never been the kind of guy she saw being in a relationship for more than a couple months before he fucked it up. His first wife had really done a number on him, and - perhaps naively - Brooke had figured it was gonna stick. And she wasn’t gonna lie; it sucked being wrong and it sucked not having a dependable booty call in New York, an easy hookup whom she knew could get her off and wouldn’t murder her afterwards.

But Danny was definitely taken these days, head-over-heels in love with Dr. Lahiri, and Brooke wasn’t about to butt in. Good for him. Good for them. Lousy for her, stuck in a big, unfamiliar city with some gorgeous new Agent Provocateur and an empty hotel room. She had some other ob/gyn practices lined up, but none of them had good-looking guys - Shulman had been pretty dependable in the past, but apparently neither Danny, nor Jeremy Reed, nor Peter Prentice was an option. And she wasn’t going to go out soliciting randos for sex.

"Oh, hi, Brooke, sorry if you’ve been waiting long. They’ll be ready for you soon." She looked up at the pleasant, masculine voice - _Morgan Tooker, N.P._ , his scrubs read. Not bad, honestly. She could and had done a lot worse.

"You know, Morgan, if you’re a nurse practitioner, you should really be in there, too," she said, offering a flirtatious smile. He smiled back uncertainly and she tucked her hair carefully behind her ears. Oh yeah. Not one to brag about, but definitely a possibility.


	14. It's a Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Mindy's sonogram, the one where they found out Simba is a boy.
> 
> Rated G.

“Danny, you’re doing a terrible job. How long has it been since you’ve done an ultrasound?”

“A really long time, Min; I’m a doctor, not an ultrasound tech. I’m still not sure why you wanted me to do it, anyway, considering we actually _have_ an ultrasound tech on staff.” He was grumbling, and Mindy held his hand indulgently as he tried to get a clear image of the fetus.

“Because this way we don’t have to share the moment, _duh_.”

“Oh, come on, like this isn’t going on insta-whatever as soon as we leave the room. You share everything, Mindy; I don’t see why I have to - _oh_ ,” he broke off sharply, a little awed, as he suddenly stumbled on the right spot. “There it is.”

“Danny,” she breathed. “Danny, look, it’s a boy. _He’s_ a boy. _Our baby_ is a boy.”

“Look at that,” he replied, the awe in his voice only growing. “Look, we made that.”

“He’s our baby. He’s our son,” Mindy agreed, holding Danny’s hand a little tighter. He looked down at her, finally tearing his unblinking eyes away from the screen.

“I love you so much,” he told her, his voice a rush of emotion.

“I love you, too,” she said softly. “I love you _two_.”


	15. What is this, Grey's Anatomy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: M+D awkward elevator ride post be cool

Shit, she was going to be late. As if the disastrous party and _Brooke_ and _Peter_ and _Danny_ and _getting her heart broken_ weren’t enough, she had to be running late on a morning when she actually had a 9 AM. Shaking her head a little, Mindy sped up to a run at the open elevator doors.

“Can you hold it, please!” she called out to the figure inside as she run, and a hand stuck out and she made it in, tripping slightly on her too-high-for-running heels but nevertheless on her way.

“Uh, I need floor - Danny,” she realized, hitting the button herself as she looked up into the face of the man she most and least wanted to see.

“Morning, Mindy,” he said awkwardly, with just enough softness that she couldn’t quite keep herself from hoping.

“Good morning,” she replied. She paused for a moment and then, instead of crouching, bent straight over to fix her shoe. Danny’d never been shy about liking her ass.

He didn’t say anything, though. Apparently after all the words he’d hit her with last night, every sentence that was a punch in the gut, the most he could manage today was, “Morning, Mindy.” What a fucking cowardly asshole, what a dick, what a -

Heartbreaker. She was sharing an elevator with the man who broke her heart, and even if he wasn’t saying anything he was looking at her the same way he’d looked at her last night, as if he were in physical pain and he never wanted to stop looking. Looking, but not touching. Wanting, but not taking.

Deep down she knew that that wasn’t enough, that if he didn’t want her enough to keep after her he didn’t really want her and it would never be enough. But he still looked at her as if he did. As if it were.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened, and Mindy rushed to drop her purse and jacket off in her office before putting on her lab coat and meeting her patient. It was a good patient, a woman she liked. They had fun sometimes, gossiping about dating and the latest movies they’d seen and the books they’d read while Mindy examined her. It should’ve been a great start to the day, but all she could think about was the way it felt when Danny looked at her and all she could do was try not to cry.


	16. Red Dresses and Blue Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Mindy being "really in the mood" after watching Schindler's list :)

“You know, you forget sometimes, how terrible people can be to each other,” Danny said quietly as the credits started to roll. Mindy nodded a little, her eyes big and watery.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “And that was so well done.” Danny turned off the television and got up to put the DVD away. When he stood up and turned around he found himself unexpectedly in her arms again.

“Min?” he asked, surprised, squirming a little when he felt her hands slip under the waistband of his jeans.

“Don’t act all shocked, Castellano. What are you, a blushing virgin?”

“Obviously not,” he answered, his voice turning to a squeak as she found what she was looking for and squeezed gently. “I just…wasn’t expecting…the movie, Mindy, there’s a certain amount of - ahhh… - gravitas, you know?”

“Sure,” said Mindy amiably as she leaned in to kiss his neck. “But if you don’t wanna fuck you shouldn’t show me a movie with Liam Neeson in it.”


	17. Cigars in the Waiting Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Danny when mindy give birth!

“I want a cigarette.”

“You obviously cannot have a cigarette, Danny; this is a hospital. The entire property is designated no-smoking.”

“ _I know that, Jeremy_. I just - what about a cigar? Fathers are supposed to give out cigars when their kids are born. That’d be good, too.”

“I’m pretty sure Mindy would actually murder you if you came into her delivery room smelling like any kind of smoke. Come on, Danny. Mindy is fine. Peter’s taking good care of her.”

“Peter.”

“He’s a good doctor. He’s always been a good doctor. Dartmouth may produce an inordinate number of fraternity boys, but it’s also an excellent medical school. He knows what he’s doing. And he’s one of her best friends.“

“I know.”

“Danny?”

“Yeah?”

“Why aren’t you in there with her?”

“I…it’s not my place, okay? It’s not my place.”

“I know your relationship is complicated these days, but that woman is in love with you, and she’s currently in the process of giving birth to your son. I’d say it is your place, actually.”

“She’s got Pete.”

“Yeah, except she’s not in love with Peter, Danny, and you know that. She’s in love with you…and you’re in love with her.”

“Yeah.”

“You should be there.”

“Yeah.”

“Why aren’t you?”

“Because I’m scared, okay? I…look, Jer, I don’t know if I can be the man that she needs. That _he_ needs. What do I know about being a good father? What do I know about being a good…a good husband? You know? I was lousy to Christina. I mean, that doesn’t excuse what she did, but I was _lousy_ to her. Mindy’s got Pete, okay? He knows how to step up. He moved to Texas for Lauren, married her, is being a better dad to Henry than that kid’s father ever was. He’ll bring that kid safely into the world, and - ”

“Yes, Danny, Peter is a husband and a father, and according to Lauren, a pretty good one. And he’s an excellent obstetrician. But two years ago, excellent obstetrician though he was, the man was still crying over his ex-girlfriend and dating women who consider ‘dark pink’ and ‘hot pink’ to be separate colors.”

“Well, they _are_ separate colors. Mindy says - ”

“My point is - and thank you for proving it, by the way - that people change. People try. I know you love her. I know you love him already. Just…go in there. You’ll figure it out.”

“Man, dating Lauren really does a number on a guy, huh? You sure she didn’t do some covert operating on the two of you?”

“I will not dignify that except to say that Lauren is an excellent neurosurgeon.”

“Okay. Okay, that’s the love of my life in there, having my son. I should be there.”

“You should.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m going in.”


	18. Meet the Parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Mindy's parents opening the door in best man! :)

“Did you say…Daniel Castellano?” the slightly severe looking man asked with a quiet frown. Danny nodded, silently willing the sweat that threatened to drench his brow to dry up.

“Yes, sir.”

“The same Daniel Castellano who is a co-partner in our Mindy’s practice?” continued the woman standing next to him, who despite her cheerful appearance and a face that Danny could already tell would break into smile just as easily as _his_ Mindy’s, somehow looked equally stern and terrifying.

“Yes, ma’am. Mindy and I have worked together for a long time, and I, I fell in love with her, and we’ve been together almost a year, and, um, it’s my baby she’s carrying. And I’m going to be there for him,” he rushed to add. “I will take care of him to the best of my ability for the rest of my life, and I’ve already been talking with my lawyer to make arrangements for him in my will. You don’t have to worry about that. Mindy doesn’t have to worry about that, I promise.”

“That is good of you, of course,” Mr. Lahiri began, “but you know Mindy does quite well for herself. I do not think she is particularly concerned with the difficulties of providing financially for her child. And even if she were, her mother and I are not poor and we would not let our grandson lack for anything he needed.”

“No, of course you wouldn’t, I - look, Mr. Lahiri, Mrs. Lahiri, may I please…come inside?” The couple glanced at each other and seemed to come to a mutual agreement as each stepped to the side to let Danny in.

“I didn’t just mean money, of course. I love your daughter. I love our son. And I want to love them both, and be there for them, as long as I live. I, uh, I’ve told Mindy that, but I wanted you to know, too, because she said you didn’t, and…I didn’t want you to think that she was being forced to do this alone. I know that has to hurt, I mean, it hurts me to think about and she’s not my firstborn child…just the love of my life, carrying my firstborn child.”

“Daniel,” said Mrs. Lahiri gently. “Daniel, please sit down, you are becoming upset.” Danny nodded and followed her to a sofa.

“We are concerned about Mindy, but not because she is not married or because she told us that she was having a child without a father. We are concerned about Mindy because she seemed so sad the last time we saw her. Mindy has wanted children for a long time. She should be happier.” Danny bit his lip and blinked back a few tears.

“I was supposed to come up to Boston, but I had a procedure that ran late,” he told them. It was, in fact if not in spirit, the truth. “I think she was disappointed about that.”

“Uh-huh,” said Mr. Lahiri, regarding Danny with a look that made him sure Mindy’s father could see right through his pretensions. “It is hard, meeting the parents of the woman you love, and seeking their blessing for the family you hope to create.” He cast a loving look at his wife, who smiled fondly back at him. “I remember it well. But you know, we are not a ferocious bunch, Daniel. We just want our daughter to be happy. Do you think that you can make her happy?”

“I think if that’s the only thing I can manage with the rest of my life, I’ll die a happy man,” said Danny honestly.

“In that case, Daniel, welcome to the family.”


	19. She Wears My Ring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One version of Danny and Mindy's wedding.

“Come on!” he cried brightly, his voice just a little too loud and his eyes just a little too glassy, but she laughed anyway and let him take her by the hand and pull her out onto the dance floor. His normally precise dance moves were a little looser and freer, and her heart was in her stomach when he twirled her ‘round and ‘round and dipped her low – but even drunk, he was still _Danny_ , and she knew she was safe in his arms.

The music changed at some point – Mindy couldn’t pinpoint when; she might have been laughing at Danny but she wasn’t exactly sober herself – and then the band was playing something slow, something she didn’t recognize, and Danny had stopped twirling and pulled her close, leaning in to sing in her ear.

“ _She swears to wear it with eternal devotion…That’s why I sing, because she wears my ring…_ " He was still slurring his words a little, and some of those notes were definitely not in the right key, but suddenly Mindy’s eyes were filling with tears as she laid her head on his chest and felt his arms move from their careful positioning on her back to hold her tight around the waist, until they were just swaying as she listened to his heart. The warmth of his skin seeped through his undershirt and the thin soft cotton of his tuxedo shirt, and she sighed with the comfort of it.

“I love you, Danny,” she mumbled, her lips brushing skin bared where he’d opened his collar. He stopped swaying and singing for a moment to place a kiss on the top of her head.

“I love you more,” he assured her, and she rolled her eyes.

“You do _not_ , okay?” she said fiercely, pulling back enough to seek out his lips with hers, kissing him with a bit more passion than she normally would in public but fuck that, today was their wedding day. He was a second behind on the uptake but eagerly caught up and kissed her slowly, hotly, more delicately than she expected from a man who was clearly three sheets to the wind. She sucked on his tongue, hard, when he slipped it into her mouth, and then his arms tightened even more and his mouth opened wider and they were straight up making out on the dance floor.

In the back of her mind Mindy could hear Peter’s whooping, augmented by Lauren’s whistles and some scattered clapping, but Danny didn’t even care which meant that she certainly wasn’t going to. He was her husband and she was his wife, and if she wanted to kiss him she damned well was going to.

“Mr. and Mrs. Castellano, ladies and gentlemen,” Peter announced, breaking into a friendly grin, and Mindy broke the kiss and pulled away to make a face at him.

“Shut up, you know it’s still Dr. Lahiri,” she yelled, and everyone – even Danny, for whom it was a bit of a sore point – laughed.

“You wanna get out of here?” Danny murmured, leaning over so she could feel his hot breath on her neck. She shivered, but shook her head.

“Dan, it’s our wedding,” she said softly. “When else are we ever going to have everyone we love in the same room? Let’s stay a little longer. We literally have the rest of our lives for sex.” He made a slight, frustrated noise in her ear but pulled back.

“Okay, you’re right. Besides, for what it’s costing us, we should enjoy every minute.”

“Thank you, that’s exactly what every woman wants to hear on her wedding day.”

“Hey, now…Mindy, I love you so much, you know that, right?” She smiled at his sudden drunken earnestness, her eyes crinkling slightly at the sides.

“Of course I know it, you dweeb. You married me, didn’t you? Danny. I’m your _wife_.” He smiled widely at that and twirled her around once more for good measure.

“You’re my wife,” he agreed, in whispered awe. He held her close for a few moments afterward, not dancing or moving at all, really, until Rishi appeared from the crowd and offered his hand to Mindy expectantly.

“Mind if I cut in, Danny?” he asked politely. “I’d like to dance with my big sister on her wedding day.” Mindy burst into giggles at the formality of her brother’s request, but Danny answered just as sedately.

“If my wife doesn’t object?” he replied, eyebrows raised at Mindy in question. She giggled some more.

“God, what is this, _Downton Abbey_? I have literally never heard either of you nerds act like you care about manners so much. Yes, Rishi, I’ll dance with you, come here.”


	20. Marry Me

“All right, Danny, just so you know, in an ironic twist of fate, Leo is now terrified of lions, so you’re going to need to deal with the wallpaper. I suggest covering the walls with top sheets. Oh, and - ”

“Marry me.”

“What? Danny, that’s not funny.”

“I didn’t mean it to be. I want you to marry me.”

“Look, we _tried_ that already, and we just…”

“I can do better.”

“Can you, though? Do you even want to? Because if you want a woman who’s going to be a stay-at-home mom to your fifty bazillion children, I guarantee you can find one _somewhere_ in Manhattan. Probably without even looking.”

“That’s not what I want.”

“Really. ‘Cause I’m pretty sure you wanted it so badly that we broke up.”

“I want you, Min. I want to be with you; I want to marry you and raise our son with you.”

“Okay, but you’ve said that before, and now we’re finally in a good place, and you just - ”

“Please.”

“No.”

“Mindy…”

“I will consent to couples counseling, but only on the grounds that we find a new one, ‘cause I’m pretty sure the one we tried before thinks I’m both crazy and pathetic.”


	21. Have I Entered an Alternative Universe?

“Have I entered an alternate universe or did you really just crack a smile for me?”

“What? You made a joke; I smiled; is it really that big a deal? Isn’t that the whole point of making a joke?”

“ _Of course_ it is, and yet you have never laughed at any of my jokes before, even though they are clearly all hilarious. I’m just confused about what happened this time.”

“This time it was funny.”

“Danny, that is so bogus. Look, I’m a first-rate comedian and _anyone_ will tell you that, but even I know that, ‘fuck my life,’ jokes got old a couple years ago.”

“Well, but…”

“But _what_?”

“Look, you…when you told it, you kind of wrinkled up your nose and your forehead.”

“So?”

“So, it was kind of…cute. And the joke was kind of funny. And…I smiled.”

“I knew it. I _knew_ it! You are completely into me. I am the queen of your world, the center of your universe, the… _why are you smiling???????_ ”

“I don’t know!”

“You’re obviously lying. Your face is all red and you look kind of constipated, and you always look like that when you lie, Danny, why are you lying?”

“Your…hyperbole. I dunno. It’s cute. _Just_ cute. Okay? Are we done talking? Can I go back to work now?”

“Sure we can, Castellano. Sure we can.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“You totally love me.”


	22. The Only One I Trust to Do This

“You’re the only one I trust to do this.”

“Yeah, okay, I would believe you except I know for a fact Peter gave you a Pap test on Monday.”

“How do you know that, creep?”

“I’m not a creep! You’re a patient; there’s a file; I…”

“You _read_ my file?”

“No, I didn’t; I…”

“Obviously you _did_ or you wouldn’t know I had a Pap test!”

“It’s like right at the top of the file! I couldn’t miss it! I wasn’t looking for it! I just needed a file I left on Betsy’s pile for insurance companies, and I…”

“Whatever. You’re obsessed with me, and you’re stalking me, and it’s weird.”

“You let Peter give you a Pap test even though you wanted to fire him last week, but, sure, I’m weird.”

“Yeah, well, I have to get him to like me _somehow_.”

“And letting him stick things in your vagina is the best way to do that.”

“Gross, Danny. Also, way to deflect from your obsession.”

“I still don’t understand how I’m the one apologizing to you when I’m the one doing you a favor. Why didn’t you just ask Peter to prescribe you birth control pills?”

“Because any mention of contraception makes him think of Becca and start to cry? God, Danny, aren’t you paying attention?”

“…so what you’re saying is that we have a _gynecologist_ at our practice who cries at the idea of any kind of birth control.”

“And you’re saying _I’m_ weird for wanting to fire him.”


End file.
